Dates of 1994

Originally published in the Britannica Book of the Year. Presented as archival content. Learn more.

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Mexican peasants revolt in Chiapas. A group of uniformed Mexican peasants, calling themselves the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), caught the government completely off guard when they attacked and captured four towns in the southeastern state of Chiapas. In a written statement the rebels called for the resignation of Pres. Carlos Salinas de Gortari, urged free elections, and demanded an end to the government’s alleged discrimination against the region’s Indians. The EZLN began its insurrection on January 1 because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect on that date. The rebels cited NAFTA as another instance of government policy that further enriched the wealthy while ignoring the plight of the poor. Although outgunned and outmanned by superior government forces, the EZLN vowed to broaden the conflict. On January 6 three bombs exploded near Mexico City, the capital. Two days later a bomb was detonated in Acapulco and four others in or near the capital. On January 10 the president ordered a cease-fire and gave Manuel Camacho Solís, the former foreign relations minister, broad authority to negotiate a peace settlement with the Indians.

Saudi Arabia to implement budget cuts. During a nationally broadcast address, King Fahd of Saudi Arabia informed his Cabinet that a world surplus of oil had depressed prices to such an extent that the government would have to trim its annual budget by 20%. The monarch did not specify which areas of spending would be curtailed, but analysts surmised that the country’s vast social welfare system and its military procurement program were likely to be substantially affected.

january 2

Hundreds killed in Afghan capital. Afghan officials reported that more than 600 people had been killed or wounded during the first 36 hours of intense fighting in the capital city of Kabul. Most of the civilian casualties were victims of misdirected rebel rockets, mortars, and artillery shells that landed in residential areas. Following the 1992 overthrow of Mohammad Najibullah, the Soviet-installed president, rival factions took over various areas of the city and continued to battle for supremacy. Pres. Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed a fragile Islamic coalition government, accused Gen. ’Abd ar-Rashid Dostam of having launched the latest offensive in order that the government might once again come under communist control.

Indians riot in Venezuelan prison. At least 122 inmates were killed during a vicious ethnic feud that erupted in a federal prison in Maracaibo, Venezuela, located about 520 km (325 mi) west of Caracas, the capital. The riot, which appeared to be planned vengeance for the decapitation of a Guajiro Indian inmate the previous week, allegedly began when 400 Indians broke out of their cell blocks and hurled firebombs into areas occupied by non-Indian prisoners. Some of the victims burned to death; others were shot, stabbed, drowned, lynched, mutilated, or decapitated. Few, if any, of those who died were Indians. The National Guard finally restored order after battling the inmates for five hours.

january 5

France moves to deport illegal aliens. Charles Pasqua, the Cabinet minister responsible for implementing France’s immigration policy, declared that "the world will get the message" when the government begins deporting planeloads, boatloads, and trainloads of illegal immigrants. Conceding that in the future France would face immigration problems even greater than those encountered in the past, Pasqua justified the nation’s new laws and immigration policies, which took effect on January 1, as the only way to stop a massive influx of immigrants from North Africa and the republics of the former Soviet Union, where thousands saw no hope in a future at home. The government estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 aliens were entering and staying in France illegally each year.

january 8

Fierce fires ravage Sydney area. Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, as firestorms continued to rage out of control on an 800-km (500-mi) front for the third straight day. The director of the New South Wales state brushfire services described the blaze as the worst in Australia in 200 years. The arrival of light rains on January 10 aided the 7,000 firefighters as they gradually brought under control the 130 fires still burning; some had almost certainly been set by arsonists.

january 9

BCCI officer to be charged in the U.S. U.S. federal prosecutors revealed that an agreement had been reached with Sheikh Zaid ibn Sultan an-Nahayan, president of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) and ruler of Abu Dhabi (one of the seven Persian Gulf states that constitute the U.A.E.), to extradite Swaleh Naqvi to the U.S. to face charges of massive fraud. As chief executive of the Luxembourg-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), Naqvi possessed extensive knowledge about the bank’s international dealings and could presumably explain the disappearance of some $20 billion before the bank’s global operations were shut down in 1991. U.S. investigators were especially eager to learn the degree to which BCCI influenced First American Bankshares Inc. in Washington, D.C., after it had secretly and illegally purchased the bank. As part of a broad agreement, Sheikh Zaid received assurances that he would face no civil or criminal charges in the U.S. even though he had been BCCI’s largest shareholder and had been sued by trustees of First American for $1.5 billion.

january 10

Guatemala seeks lasting peace. After five days of discussions, Guatemalan officials and representatives of the three-army leftist guerrilla movement agreed on a new framework for negotiating an end to over 30 years of violent conflict. A broad-based assembly, headed by Roman Catholic Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, a veteran negotiator, had been empowered to make recommendations for solving the country’s social and human rights problems, which were key issues in the civil strife. Jean Arnault, an on-site UN negotiator, expressed hope that a peace settlement could be signed before the end of the year.

january 11

New Russian assembly convenes. Members of both chambers of Russia’s newly constituted Federal Assembly gathered in separate buildings in Moscow amid hope that the proceedings would be less raucous than those that had characterized the former Congress of People’s Deputies. The 178 members of the Federation Council (upper house) included two members from each of the nation’s 89 regions and territories. In his opening address, Pres. Boris Yeltsin asked the delegates for their cooperation, but he also made it clear that he was completely prepared for confrontation. In addressing the less powerful State Duma (lower house), Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin indicated that the government would continue its program of reforms without resorting to "shock therapy" tactics. First Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar was the leader of Russia’s Choice, a reformist party that held about 16% of the seats in the Duma. The anti-Yeltsin forces were dominated by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a flamboyant ultranationalist who apparently aspired to the presidency. Among the assembly’s top priorities was the passage of laws that defined the functions and authority of the various branches of the newly structured government.

Italian prime minister resigns. Carlo Ciampi tendered his resignation after less than nine tumultuous months as prime minister of Italy. Since February 1992 several thousand Italians had been implicated in corruption, including five former prime ministers, about 200 members of Parliament, and numerous prominent businessmen. The cases of alleged bribery, extortion, fraud, embezzlement, and illegal political contributions were said to involve billions of dollars. On January 16 Pres. Oscar Luigi Scalfaro dissolved Parliament and called for new elections in March. With countless old-guard politicians discredited beyond redemption, no one could predict with confidence what the political landscape would look like after the election.

january 14

Ukraine surrenders nuclear arms. Ukrainian Pres. Leonid Kravchuk, Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin, and U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton signed an agreement in Moscow that would, it was hoped, lead to the transfer of Ukraine’s nuclear weapons to Russia, where they would be destroyed. In exchange, Ukraine would receive nuclear fuel and guarantees of security. The country, which was the second largest of the former Soviet republics, was in a state of near economic collapse. With its currency reserves virtually exhausted, inflation raging out of control, the production of energy far below normal, and large factories idle or barely functioning, the country desperately needed help to extricate itself from the economic quagmire that was devouring it. Divesting itself of nuclear weapons in exchange for Russian help seemed to be Ukraine’s best hope for recovery.

january 17

Quake devastates Los Angeles. Millions of residents of southern California were terrorized by a disastrous predawn earthquake initially measuring 6.6--and later upgraded to 6.8--on the Richter scale. The quake, which was centred some 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Los Angeles, sent freeway overpasses crashing to the ground, totally demolished multistory buildings, and ignited numerous fires. At least 61 persons were reported killed. Hundreds of thousands of people were without water or electricity. In recent years there had been more severe earthquakes in southern California, but none had occurred in such a heavily populated area. Authorities quickly moved to take control of the situation by declaring a state of emergency and imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Construction engineers estimated that it would take months to restore the freeways, which were a vital part of the region’s transportation network. On February 12 President Clinton signed an $8.6 billion relief bill for the state of California for what some believed was the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

january 26

Legislature ousts Belarus leader. The Parliament of Belarus voted 209-36 to unseat Stanislau Shushkevich, chairman of the Supreme Soviet (head of state). The legislators, who had been elected before the breakup of the Soviet Union, were overwhelmingly opposed to Shushkevich’s efforts to introduce reforms that would establish a free-market economy. They also sought closer alignment with Russia’s foreign policies. Parliamentarians who supported Shushkevich denounced his ouster as a betrayal of the nation’s sovereignty. The leader of the Belarusian Popular Front, disheartened by the turn of events, declared that the new leadership would now bring Belarus "into the Russian empire."

january 30

Algerian military loses its power. Algeria took a significant step toward returning to political normalcy by naming Liamine Zeroual to a three-year term as president. The appointment was the first of a series of steps leading to the election of a new national legislature. Algeria had plunged into political turmoil in December 1991 when Muslim fundamentalists, in the first round of voting for the National Assembly, stunned almost everyone by capturing 44% of the seats outright. In other races that required a runoff because no candidate had won an absolute majority of the vote, the Islamic Salvation Front had done so well that the fundamentalists were virtually certain, in the final round of voting, to take over the government and establish an Islamic state. At that juncture the army, backed by secularists, forced Pres. Chadli Bendjedid to resign. It then set up a High State Council to run the country, declared a state of emergency, and canceled the second round of the election. During the two years of conflict that followed, paramilitary death squads tracked down and killed suspected rebels, and Muslim guerrillas succeeded in assassinating government officials. At least 2,000 lives were estimated to have been lost to such violence.

february

february 1

Lasso named to new UN rights post. UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali nominated José Ayala Lasso to be the first United Nations high commissioner for human rights. However, members of several human rights organizations were highly critical of the appointment because Ayala had served as foreign minister under a repressive military regime in his native Ecuador. During the 1993 UN General Assembly debate that preceded the creation of the new agency, there was wide disagreement on what the functions of the commission should be and what authority it should have. Because these differences were never resolved, the UN mandate establishing the commission did not specify the circumstances under which it could initiate an investigation of suspected violations of human rights or whether it could act only with the approval of UN organizations to which the nations in question belonged.

february 3

U.S. ends Vietnam trade embargo. President Clinton officially ended the 19-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Vietnam, thereby paving the way for the eventual restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two countries. For the present, each nation would conduct business through a liaison office in the other’s capital. Indirectly addressing the concerns of the families of more than 2,000 Americans missing in action during the Vietnam War, Clinton remarked that he was absolutely convinced that lifting the embargo was the most efficacious way of learning the fate of the military personnel still unaccounted for. U.S. businessmen had long argued that the embargo was an anachronism that barred them from investing in Vietnam’s rapidly expanding economy.

Russian military to help Shevardnadze. Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin and Georgian Pres. Eduard Shevardnadze signed a series of agreements in the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi. These included a treaty that extended the life of three Russian military bases in Georgia beyond the year 1995. Russia would also train and supply the Georgian army. Small groups of protesters denounced "Russian imperialism" and Shevardnadze’s "betrayal of the country’s independence." Factions within Russia’s legislature also opposed the treaty, reportedly because they feared Russia could become embroiled in Georgia’s effort to reestablish control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two strongholds of armed secessionists. Georgia had earlier asked for and received Russian military assistance in Abkhazia after promising to strengthen ties with other former Soviet republics by becoming a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Court favours Chad in border dispute. The International Court of Justice, popularly known as the World Court, ruled 16-1 that Libya had no legal basis to support its claim to the 120,000-sq km (45,000-sq mi) Aozou Strip. Libya and Chad had both laid claim to the long stretch of land, which over the years had been the scene of fierce military engagements. In 1983 Libya, supported by its allies in northern Chad, had won effective control over the whole northern half of Chad, but the Chadian army gradually reoccupied the territory. In 1990 both parties in the dispute agreed to let the World Court, the judicial arm of the United Nations, decide the case. The court concluded that the border had been definitively fixed in 1955 when Libya signed a treaty with France, which at the time claimed Chad as an overseas colony.

february 6

Costa Ricans elect new president. After an intense and sometimes virulent campaign, José María Figueres Olsen, the candidate of the National Liberation Party, won slightly less than 50% of the popular vote and was elected to a four-year term as the president of Costa Rica. Figueres, whose father had drawn up the Central American nation’s blueprint for democracy and welfare, was scheduled to succeed Pres. Rafael Calderón Fournier on May 8. The Costa Rican constitution did not permit the head of state and government to seek reelection.

Ahtisaari wins the presidency of Finland. Martti Ahtisaari, leader of the Social Democratic Party, won 54% of the vote in a runoff election to become president of Finland. His opponent, Defense Minister Elisabeth Rehn, had surprised nearly everyone by finishing ahead of nine other candidates in the January 16 election. Ahtisaari indicated that he would involve himself in domestic issues in an effort to revitalize the nation’s moribund economy. Prime Minister Esko Aho, however, pointedly remarked that the government’s domestic policies would remain intact. By tradition, the Finnish president was responsible for the conduct of foreign policy and the prime minister for domestic affairs.

february 9

Accord initialed by Israel and PLO. Yasir Arafat, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and Shimon Peres, foreign minister of Israel, initialed a document in Cairo that resolved all the problems "either completely in detail or in principle" that had impeded implementation of the accord signed in September 1993 in Washington, D.C. That historic agreement granted self-government to Palestinians in occupied Gaza and the West Bank. As a first step, Palestinians would govern all of Gaza and the city of Jericho in the West Bank. Whether the Palestinians would exercise jurisdiction beyond the city’s limits was a matter still to be negotiated. The timetable for total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and Jericho would depend on how quickly practical problems involving the transfer of power could be settled. Final ratification of the accord by both sides did not appear to present any serious problem.

february 17

Bosnian Serbs yield to threats. Ethnic Serbs living in Bosnia and Herzegovina began to withdraw their heavy artillery from the hills surrounding Sarajevo, the besieged capital. On Nov. 9, 1993, NATO had issued an ultimatum that included threats to launch air strikes to silence the weapons if they were not put under UN control or moved 20 km (12 mi) away from the city by February 20. The ferocious fighting in Bosnia involved Serbs, Croats, and Muslims who were battling each other in shifting alliances to establish control over various regions of the country. NATO intervened after the Serbs had rejected repeated demands that they stop shelling the virtually defenseless city. Numerous reports of hate-inspired atrocities had evoked worldwide pleas that something be done to end the slaughter, especially of innocent civilians. The best hope for peace appeared to rest on the willingness of all parties to accept a division of the republic into autonomous ethnic regions.

february 22

CIA agent charged with spying. Aldrich Ames, a former member of the Soviet counterintelligence unit of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, was arrested by federal authorities in Washington, D.C., and charged with spying for Moscow, both before and after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Ames allegedly had received as much as $2.7 million for passing on highly secret information and for identifying agents employed abroad by the U.S. Ten of the agents were reportedly arrested and shot. Ames’s wife, who had once been a CIA informer, was also arrested. The damage Ames had inflicted on U.S. intelligence operations was said to be catastrophic. The CIA itself was accused of inexcusable laxity for having failed to investigate the opulent lifestyle of Ames and his wife, which could not have been supported by a conventional income.

Peruvian army officers guilty of murder. A military court in Lima, Peru, sentenced two army majors, described as leaders of an assassination squad, to 20 years in prison for their roles in the 1992 murders of nine students and a teacher at the Enrique Guzmán y Valle National Education University. The victims had been shot in the head and their bodies burned. The army general in charge of intelligence planning was also implicated in the killings and was given a five-year sentence. Six others were sent to prison for periods ranging from 4 to 15 years. The case had been kept alive by the weekly magazine Sí, which disclosed the site where some of the victims were buried. Peruvian Pres. Alberto Fujimori expressed hope that U.S. criticism of his country’s human rights record would now be muffled and that Washington would release millions of dollars in urgently needed aid.

february 23

Yeltsin’s archrivals get amnesty. Members of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of the nation’s legislature, in a calculated act of defiance, approved a sweeping amnesty that included the release from prison of Pres. Boris Yeltsin’s most intransigent opponents--those who had led an armed revolt against his government in October 1993. The vote was 253-67. On February 26 Ruslan Khasbulatov, the former speaker of parliament, and Aleksandr Rutskoy, the former vice president, were among those who were set free. Both had been captured with their armed supporters after Russian troops shelled and attacked the White House (the parliament building). The assault claimed 140 lives. Shortly before the prisoners walked out of the prison, Russia’s chief prosecutor, a Yeltsin supporter, resigned because there was no legal way he could accede to the president’s request and halt the release.

Marcos estate ordered to pay $1.2 billion. A 10-member federal jury in Hawaii, having heard a class-action suit filed against Ferdinand Marcos, ordered his estate to pay some 10,000 plaintiffs exemplary damages (extraordinarily large punitive damages, allowable in certain cases) amounting to $1.2 billion. The jury had concluded that the former president of the Philippines bore responsibility for the numerous murders, rapes, acts of torture, and other violations of human rights that had occurred after his declaration of martial law in 1972. The Marcos estate would also be liable for compensatory damages, the size of which had not yet been determined. Despite the court’s decision, there were serious doubts that the plaintiffs would ever receive any money because the Philippine government had thus far failed to locate the billions of dollars Marcos allegedly looted from the national treasury before his ouster from power in 1986.

february 25

Israeli murders Arabs in Hebron. Baruch Goldstein, a U.S.-born medical doctor and an Israeli right-wing extremist, opened fire with an automatic weapon on a dense crowd of Palestinians worshiping at the Cave of the Patriarchs mosque in Hebron. At least 29 persons were slain and some 150 wounded. Goldstein had apparently entered the mosque with his weapon in full view without arousing the suspicion of Israeli security guards. The massacre that followed was the worst act of violence in the West Bank since Israel occupied the territory in 1967. After the first wave of shock and terror had passed, infuriated worshipers sprang toward Goldstein and beat him to death. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin called the massacre "a loathsome criminal act of murder." The anti-Israeli rioting that quickly erupted in the occupied territories was expected; less expected were the angry protests of Arabs in parts of Israel proper.